Page:The Folk-Lore Journal Volume 2 1884.djvu/131

Rh the Town Hall, at two o'clock in the afternoon, where the lord of the manor (Mr. Hay, of Duns Castle) threw off the first ball. Play was carried on with spirit, the married men striving to carry the ball to the kirk as their goal, and the unmarried men to one of the meal-mills in the parish as their goal. The first ball was "kirked" and the second "milled." Another ball was afterwards put up, and afforded amusement until dusk.—Kelso Chronicle, 29 Feb. 1884.

Football Day at Alnwick.—From time immemorial Shrove Tuesday at Alnwick has been dedicated to the ancient pastime of kicking the football, and this year there was no departure from the celebration of this time-honoured custom. Before the Alnwick Improvement Act came into operation, over fifty years ago, the game was played in the streets of the town, a custom which resulted in much damage to windows, &c., the reparation of which was defrayed by the lord of the manor. The magistrates, after the passing of the Act, prohibited the playing of the game in the streets, and in consequence the Duke of Northumberland instituted an annual match between the married and unmarried freemen, also a match for the townspeople, and this custom was carried on until 1847, when the Duke of Northumberland died at Alnwick Castle in the month of February, and no game was played the following year. Subsequently, however, the sport was resuscitated, the players to be the parishioners of St. Michael's v. the parishioners of St. Paul's. And so it has continued until now, on Shrove Tuesday, in the "Pasture," or north demesne, by permission of his Grace the Duke of Northumberland. On Tuesday at half-past one, the committee assembled at the barbican of the castle, and received the ball at the hands of the porter, and immediately afterwards, headed by the duke's piper, playing various airs on the Northumberland pipes, proceeded to the north demesne, where the ball was kicked off from the centre of the goals, which were placed as near as convenient to the extreme ends of the demesne. After an arduous struggle, kept up with much of the old spirit, a goal was scored by St Michael's parish; and the other two goals were not played for. After the prizes had been paid the ball was thrown up, to become the property of any one who succeeded in carrying it away. This feat was performed by John Lundie, who got the ball up the river and under the bridge, and it